Q & A: Katie Davis on Raising a Dozen Children at 22

The Nashville native is feeding and caring for thousands and raising children on her own.

Interview by Morgan Feddes| October 25, 2011

What started as a one-year trip to Uganda eventually led Katie Davis to single motherhood, taking 13 foster daughters into her home. The 22-year-old has begun the adoption process, but official approval might not come for a few years since Ugandan law requires adoptive parents to be at least 25 years old. Davis is the founder of Amazima Ministries, an organization based in Jinja that sponsors Ugandan school children, provides vocational opportunities for poor Ugandans, and distributes food and health care services to the families of more than 1,600 children in Masese, a nearby slum.

Davis recently completed a tour in the U.S. for her new book, Kisses From Katie (Howard Books), in which she writes about her life and journey in Uganda. Morgan Feddes, editorial resident at Christianity Today, spoke with her about the book, her ministry in Uganda, and her growing family.

What are you hoping will come out of this book?

The goal of the book was for other people to be encouraged that, in small steps of obedience to God, he can create something more extraordinary than you could have imagined. When people come into my story from this side of things, they might say, "Oh, this young girl has this organization and all these children—either she's totally crazy or she's gotta be incredible." I'm neither, but the story started with one open door of going to this third-world country. I said yes, and then God placed needs in front of me, and I tried to meet them in the best way I could.

What has Amazima been doing in Uganda?

Amazima started originally as a sponsorship program. I saw so many children who were unable to come to school and parents were trying to drop them off at the orphanage—not because they were orphans, but because ...

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